Pets With Benefits

We finally finished the coop last night. Of course we still have a few finishing touches to add but it's good enough for now.

The hens are living in their new home and are still a bit scared. This is expected since they came from a farm with farm noises and now live in town with loud town noises. We're a couple blocks from the train, a hwy, the post office and main street - it can get pretty loud.

Every hour they seem to get a little more comfortable with their new home and venture a little further out. They're slowly getting used to us and no longer squack and attack us when we enter their coop.

It appears we have a quiet passive hen and a fiesty loud one. It's great to see their personalities already.

We named the hens Henny Penny and Hazel. Penny is the copper colored hen while Hazel is the brown one. They're both Silkies and were born about this time last year.

They're not used to climbing up ramps, having a hen house, or sleeping on roosting poles. So, I need to make a couple modifications to the ramp & hen house to make it a little cozier for laying eggs.

I'm sure we'll get it right one of these days. Until then, we'll just take it one day at a time.










We also have two Silkie chicks in the house; we weren't sure if either of the hens we brought home are the mother and didn't want them to freeze to death outside. Even though it's pretty warm during the day it can get pretty cold at night. We also like having them in the house since they're cute.

I put together this brooding box to make sure they are warm and safe. The wire top is to keep Pepper (cat) away from the chicks, even though he could care less.

I'm sure this isn't the last time you'll hear about these guys. I love having pets and I was able to justify (and get approval for) chickens since they also provide eggs. They're a pet with benefits.